


Untitled 01

by EnnaRhyss



Category: Fate/stay night & Related Fandoms
Genre: Character Death, F/M, last episode spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-21
Updated: 2015-07-21
Packaged: 2018-04-10 13:54:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4394459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EnnaRhyss/pseuds/EnnaRhyss
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A birthday fic for a friend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Untitled 01

“Shirou…”

A soft voice called out to him. He opened his eyes a little and saw the silhouette of a woman leaning above him. If she leaned only a bit closer he could feel her blond hair tickling his face. Instead, he glanced at her and closed eyes again, etching the picture in his memory.

She was always the prettiest when she smiled.

“Shirou…” The voice called again.

“Hmm?” He responded, not opening his eyes.

“Shirou, I just wanted to say…” She hesitated a bit. “I’m glad I met you.”

He sighed deeply in content, making himself more comfortable in her lap. She giggled and moved aside the bangs from his face. The faint smell of grass tickled his nose.

He remembered the first time he met her. The proud king, with her invisible sword drawn out, stood in front of him, illuminated by the moonlight.

“I ask of you, are you my Master?”

Those were her first words to him.

That memory was burned deeply into his soul. He remembers it even now, and will probably remember it for as long as he lives. That night, was when he met King Arthur, the invincible King of Knights

It was quite the contrast to the image that was before his eyes in this peaceful moment.

He wanted so deeply to replace that image of the gallant king with the image of the woman in front of him; he wanted forever to remember the happiness in her eyes, the sun that shone brightly and that soothing, faint smell of grass.

Instead, he etched it deeper in his memory, right next to the image of the King Arthur. A king doesn’t love a person; he loves a country. However, right now, in this very instant, if he opened his eyes, he would see only the woman named Arturia Pendragon; the woman that loved him unconditionally, with all her might.

He took the hand that was on his forehead and brought it to his lips. It was soft and warm. She let it rest on his cheek and he leaned his head into it. He opened his eyes again and smiled faintly.

The image was blurry, and his eyes stung, but he made sure he would never forget the sight. He blinked and felt the tears fall down his temples. Chuckling, he wiped them clumsily with his sleeve.

“Saber, I know that I said it so many times,” he spoke with a choked voice, “but I love you.”

She smiled again.

“Can’t you stay here just a little longer?” She looked into the sky and sighed.

“But I’m here, Saber.” He tried to sit up, but she held him back.

“Why don’t you sleep a bit more? Aren’t you tired?” She asked, not looking at him.

He felt his limbs go heavy and he relaxed on the grass once again, his head still in her lap.

“Yeah,” he answered dreamily, “I think I’ll sleep a bit more.”

She kept running her fingers through his hair slowly; humming a lullaby she probably heard when she was a child.

“But you know, Saber,” he mustered all of his strength and raised his hand towards her face, “I sure wish you were here.”

The hand grasped air in front of him.

“I wish I was here, too,” a distant voice echoed in his head.

He opened his eyes. The image of the girl was gone; instead, the clear blue sky greeted him. He let his arm fall to his side. As he closed his eyes, he felt the image of the girl slip out of his reach, once again.

How many times has he dreamt about her? How many times has he lost the sight of her the moment he woke up?

“Seriously, this goal is just plain unreachable, right Saber?” he chuckled, and felt a cold rush of panic course through his body.

Everything inside him was crumbling. It was like this sentence destroyed the last connection he had with the woman he was so deeply in love with. Every image of her was almost forcibly ripped out of him, cast into oblivion.

His body shot up and pressed his palms on his eyes, willing himself to keep the memories. The more desperately he grabbed onto them, the more he felt them just slipping away.

_I ask of you, are you my Master?_

The words came deep from his soul, calming the storm inside his body. That is right, that image will never go away, and even if he lost everything else, he will always remember the moment he met her. That was a fact that the world would never take away from him, and no matter how impossible, he will meet her again.

He just had to go further; just a bit further. She is only a little out of his reach. Soon, they will be together.

He chuckled. The word ‘soon’ had no meaning when Emiya Shirou had whole eternity in front of him. Out of the timeline of the world, a moment was eternity, and eternity was a moment. It was all the same. _That is why it felt so close, and yet so far_.

He stood up and looked around him. He was in the middle of nowhere. A smell of burning wood reached his nose. It made him frown in disgust, and he turned towards the wind. Strengthening his eyesight through the simple projection spell he saw his destination.

A small town in the middle of nowhere was attacked by a horde of undead corpses. That was his destination for now. A simple rumor that he heard a month ago about a man who practiced forbidden arts turned out to be true. If he hurried just a bit more, he could save them. In one swift motion he took his backpack from the ground and ran.

So he ran with all his might. The ground was uneven and he lost the count of how many times he thought he would slip and fall. But he never did. He kept running. His breath was short and he could feel his sides burning; he was never cut out for long distance runs.

From time to time he’d stop and shoot couple of arrows from a bow he projected. They would always hit their mark. When he got close to the town enough to discern the enemies without his improved eyesight he stopped to catch his breath and loaded his bow once more. This attack will be longer.

A wave of the corpses was making its way through the main street. He kept shooting each and every one of them, not letting them advancing. With every arrow he shot, he would move couple of steps closer. He checked the amount of arrows he had left. With only five of them left, and the horde getting bigger and bigger, he knew his only option was to dive head on into the city and save as any people as he could.

It was only couple of minutes before he reached them, but to him it felt like hours. Projecting the twin swords, Shirou stood in the center of the main street. He could feel the life energy of the people hiding in the buildings behind him, and he was determined not to let a single creature pass this point.

As he cut each and every one of them that got close, his only thoughts were of the people behind him. It didn’t matter what happened to him, as long as he could manage to save them. _I became strong, Saber._

His limbs felt heavy and with every swing, his muscles screamed in protest. Whenever he cut down a corpse, two more would appear. The numbers just kept growing.

_Maybe this is a bit much for me,_ he smiled bitterly.

Still, he never lowered the tenacity of his attack. He knew that the moment he gives up they will die.

_The moment I give up is the moment I would never see her again._

Soon, his body betrayed him. Falling on his knees, he leaned on one of the swords, running his right sword through the head of the nearest corpse of a small child. His right hand let go of the sword, unable to pull it out. He took the other sword and threw it, cutting two corpses with it. _Was this the end?_

Just as the thought crossed his mind, an explosion followed by gunshots echoed from his left side. He turned around to see a group of people systematically cleaning the streets.

He didn’t know who they were, but they were surely from the Mage Association. Using magic far more advanced than he could possibly imagine, they were making the impossible become reality.

“Ah, that’s good, they will be saved now.” He muttered, standing up with great difficulty.

Shirou smiled weakly and without a word turned to leave. Since the people from the town were saved, he didn’t have any business here anymore.

Multiple shots followed by screams echoed from the buildings around him. He knew his life was in danger too, but felt no murder intent. His eyes widened at the realization and he turned around, a sword in his hand ready to strike.

But he was just a moment too late. A sharp pain in his chest told him he was stabbed through the heart and that the wound was fatal. No one can survive being stabbed into the heart once, and it’s practically impossible to survive it twice.

Coughing blood he raised his head towards the man in the white coat, who was holding the ice sword that impaled Emiya Shirou. He kept pushing the weapon, until he was just inches from the young man. Their eyes were indifferent, as if this was only natural. Emiya Shirou knew how heartless the Mage Association can be. They didn’t care about people; they cared about magic and results. Rin told him that plenty of times, trying desperately to etch it into his stubborn mind.

“My apologies, but we were instructed not to leave any witnesses.” There was something like a pity in their croaky voice.

Saying that, he let the sword evaporate, and turned around, giving further instructions to the rest of the team that was gathered around him.

Shirou fell on his back, breathing heavily. The dying screams grew fainter, and he could feel the breeze on his face. It brought that smell of grass once again.

He was so close.

_Saber, I’m coming._

Closing his eyes, he raised his hand towards the sky. Just a bit further and he will reach it. He will reach _her._ As he let out his last breath, the arm fell once again to his side.

He was so far.

_Just wait a little longer._

**Author's Note:**

> Just wanted to write a fic where Emiya Shirou constantly goes through cycle of betrayal slowly moving towards Saber, who is waiting in Avalon for him. It's probably a wrong interpretation of last episode, but the idea was too good to pass up on it.


End file.
